Advocacy

MSRC RT Licensure October 2015 Update

As you know, the MSRC continued its fight to preserve our
license this year. State Senator Tom Casperson has helped protect us to
this point. There is still a chance that deregulation could happen this
year, and the MSRC is actively watching out for all of us.

There is little doubt that the deregulation effort will
continue next year. With that in mind, the MSRC will need to continue its
legislative efforts. As you can likely guess, this is not an inexpensive
venture!

With that said, the MSRC Membership Chair Eileen MacDonnell
is hard at work to boost the MSRC membership. A solid and healthy
membership will help maintain a solid and healthy financial picture for the
MSRC. A sizeable membership also translates into greater respect for our
legislative efforts.

Please consider supporting and renewing your MSRC membership
for 2015. Once you renew, you will be registered to win a free 2015
Spring (Amway Hotel in Grand Rapids) or 2015 Fall conference (DoubleTree Hotel
in Bay City) - INCLUDING hotel accommodations. In addition, if you renew
your AARC membership as well for 2015, you’ll automatically be entered in for a
quarterly drawing to win a new Kindle Fire.

In
order for our profession and our lobbyists to have all the tools
necessary to help preserve the RT license, the MSRC needs your help to
revitalize the MSRC PAC. Please click here to download a contribution form.

This past March, during Virtual Lobby Week, our MSRC members and supporters sent over 1,000 emails and letters in support of the ‘Medicare Respiratory Therapist Access Act’. We need your help again!

On Monday, July 8th, Rep. John Lewis from Georgia introduced ‘HR 2619’. As you may recall, this legislation would amend Medicare Part B to provide coverage of chronic disease management services furnished by a Respiratory Therapist in the physician practice setting. Ultimately, providing those with chronic lung disease greater access to RT’s and to the self-management education and training that they are currently lacking.

Frank Salvatore, AARC’s Federal Government Affairs Committee Chairman, has charged each state with the following:

‘For the State Leadership, I ask that you begin helping the PACT communicate this throughout your state by having your webmaster attach a link to the banner ad on the AARC Website. We also need to get the information flowing throughout your states. Prepare to get those e-mails, phone calls and faxes going. My challenge to you is to see if we can get about 200+ co-sponsors within a month!!!Also, since the e-mails from capitol connection will be going not only to Representatives, let’s see if our e-mail campaign can spark a companion bill in the Senate within a month!’

‘The big lift is upon us! This is our time!...I firmly believe that now is our time and we must find a way to engage the grass-roots member to understand that this bill has so many more ramifications to our patients and profession than if it affects them in their job now!! It will hit every aspect of Respiratory Care positively if we get this done now. It has so much to do with readmission, better patient care, better patient access...It’s just good medicine and it needs to be delivered by an RT. I hope you will get as jazzed up about this as I am. Please start greasing the communication wheels. Find ways to get to every RT within your state’.